The present invention relates to the hull construction of a watercraft. More specifically, the invention relates to a hull that includes at least one removable wear strip that can be removed and replaced to prevent permanent damage to the watercraft hull.
Many types of watercraft, such as motor boats, jet boats, personal watercraft, sail boats, and canoes are formed of a fiberglass composite material or molded plastic that can become easily damaged or severely scratched as a result of a forcible impact or collision with sand, gravel, rocks, or other obscured objects or debris found in the water. Typically, after use, each of the small watercraft identified above is pulled up out of the water and onto a beach or shore. When the watercraft is being pulled out of the water, the lowermost portion of the hull of the watercraft (generally encompassing portions of the bow, keel and stern) is particularly susceptible to scratching and abrasion. The abrasions in the hull promote corrosion and structural weakening of the hull. Such corrosion and weakening of the hull can, particularly if the hull is fabricated from fiberglass, necessitate repair or replacement of the entire damaged portion of the watercraft.
Traditionally, the walls forming the bow and keel of the watercraft taper together to form a leading edge that structurally encourages the hydrodynamic flow of water across the exterior surface of the hull as the watercraft moves through the water. Serious damage to the keel and/or bow of the watercraft can create substantial dragging or suction forces against the motion of the immersed watercraft, which can seriously affect the overall hydrodynamic performance of the watercraft.
Repairing and/or replacing the hull of the watercraft is customarily costly and greatly inconvenient for the watercraft owner. Accordingly, the need to protect the keel and/or bow of the watercraft from abrasive wear and structural damage has resulted in various options available for protecting the hull of the watercraft.
In an attempt to protect at least a portion of the lowermost area of a watercraft from structural damage, bow protectors have been developed. A serious disadvantage associated with the bow protectors currently available is the general inability of the bow protector to adequately conform to the keel or bow of the particular watercraft on which it is being used. Traditionally, prior art bow protectors are designed having a rigid "V-shaped" configuration. Since each type of watercraft has its own bow and keel configuration, the standard prior art bow protector is unable to provide sufficient universal conformity due to the various sizes and shapes of watercraft on which it is used.
Additionally, there are significant disadvantages associated with the reduction in the overall hydrodynamic performance of a watercraft as a result of a non-conforming prior art bow protector rigidly secured over the keel or bow of the watercraft. In many modern watercraft designs, a large amount of engineering and design work is spent during development of the hull configuration. The engineering and design work done in developing the hull centers on optimizing the hydrodynamic performance of the watercraft by forming the hull in a specific manner. Since the prior art bow protectors are constructed of a single design for use on a variety of watercraft, the currently available bow protectors can have a negative effect on the watercraft performance and can negate the design and engineering work invested to develop the watercraft.
In addition to the disadvantages previously discussed, many of the prior art bow protectors currently available are attached to the bow and/or keel of the watercraft by the use of an adhesive. Such prior art bow protectors are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,762,080; 4,909,172; and 5,485,801. In each of these bow protectors, the bow protector is attached to the watercraft hull by a powerful adhesive. Along with the previously mentioned hydrodynamic disadvantages, the adhesively attached bow protectors present a problem when they need to be replaced after a period of continuous usage. Since the adhesive must be strong enough to hold the bow protector in place, the adhesive is often very difficult to remove without damaging the watercraft hull. Therefore, when the bow protector becomes extremely worn, it is very difficult to remove the protector without damaging the underlying hull.
Finally, many of the currently available watercraft bow protectors have practical disadvantages related to the method of installing the bow protectors to the watercraft. For example, in order to properly install prior art bow protectors over a non-conforming keel or bow of a watercraft, at least a pair of skilled installers are typically required to bend or alter the shape of the bow protector to generally conform to the keel or bow of the watercraft. Thus, the prior art bow protectors require generally skilled technicians with special training and special tools to properly install the bow protectors.
Therefore, although bow protectors have been known in the prior art, the currently available bow protectors suffer from several disadvantages, such as the negative effect on the watercraft's hydrodynamic performance and the inadequate replaceability of a worn protector. Thus, it would be particularly desirable to provide a protective device that does not adversely effect the watercraft's performance and is easily replaceable when worn.